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‘A most fortunate guy:’ former Highlanders coach, national team soccer player  takes over at  top US college

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BY LORI RILEY

When Methembe Ndlovu was growing up in Zimbabwe, he thought he had to make a choice at age 16: either he could play soccer or pursue an education.

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In Zimbabwe, he could not do both at a high level.

Both of his parents were schoolteachers; they wanted him to continue his education. Ndlovu wanted to play soccer.

One day, at soccer practice, a man from the United States showed up.

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He talked about colleges in America and how Ndlovu could play and go to school.

That moment changed his life.

“I like to say I’m one of the most fortunate guys,” Ndlovu said.

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Soccer and education have taken him all over the world – to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., where he saw snow for the first time and was a four-time Ivy League player, to playing soccer professionally, to coaching the most popular soccer team in Zimbabwe, to helping start a programme that combined education about Aids and HIV with soccer.

Now Ndlovu, 49, is back in New England, in his first year coaching the men’s soccer team at Trinity College.

Former coach Mike Pilger retired after 18 seasons in November after the Bantams went 3-11-1 last season.

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“I spent my first few years in the US on the East Coast, so this has always felt a little bit like my home in the U.S,” said Ndlovu, who has had stints as an assistant at Notre Dame and Penn State.

“I had very high regard for [the NESCAC] so when this opportunity opened up, I felt like this could be a good fit.”

Ndlovu started playing soccer as a boy. He grew up in a city called Bulawayo in southwestern Zimbabwe.

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“I was a very committed athlete, but my parents said, ‘You are continuing in school,’” he said.

“I would play with my club team when I could, which is unusual – my parents said if you keep these grades, you can play club.

“The kids who were really serious about being professional as football players, they were training in the morning and the afternoon.

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“I could only train in the afternoon after school. It really put me in a good position for US colleges.

“I didn’t know anything about college, or scholarships or financial aid. It was something that wasn’t even a thought for me.”

That is, until somebody from Dartmouth came to one of his practices.

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A man was teaching English at a local school and came to watch the club team play and asked to speak to Ndlovu, whom the coaches pointed out as a good student.

“He went back to the US and started sending me SAT prep stuff,” Ndlovu said. “It was totally random.

“This is why I say I’m one of the luckiest people.

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“A year later, another person came on the same kind of exchange thing to teach so I developed a connection with the school and with the coach and prepared for the SATs and a couple of years later, I was in Hanover N.H.”

Ndlovu got off the plane at Logan Airport, not knowing anyone in the US.

An assistant coach named John O’Connor was there to welcome him with a sign with his name on it.

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In a full circle kind of moment, on October 16, Trinity will play Castleton (Vt.) University, where O’Connor is now coaching.

Ndlovu always assumed he would play professionally then become a teacher.

But as he watched his college coach, Bobby Clark (who went on to win a national championship at Notre Dame in 2013), he realized once again he could do both.

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“Being exposed to the whole college atmosphere in the US, it kind of started to plant an idea in my head you could actually teach soccer for a living, this could be a career,” he said.

He did play, for the Zimbabwe national team and in the US for a professional team on Cape Cod.

He got the chance, for 2 ½ years, to coach his favourite childhood team,  Highlanders, and they won the Zimbabwean national title.

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He also was the co-founder of a programme called Grassroots Soccer, which sought to educate youngsters in Zimbabwe about Aids and HIV using soccer as a vehicle. Zimbabwe has the fifth-highest HIV rate in the world.

“It’s a subject that can be difficult to talk to with young people so soccer was just a tool for engagement,” he said.

“I’m still involved. When I moved here, I had become Africa’s CEO.

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“”I was looking after programmes in Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa for Grassroots so when I left, I transitioned onto the board.

“And I just stepped down from the board this year, but I still remain involved behind the scenes.

“Our mission is to save lives. We have graduated more than a million adolescents in 22 different countries since 2002.

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“This means a lot of young people have gone through our programmes and graduated and received life-saving information.”

Trinity’s soccer practice began Thursday. Earlier in the week, Ndlovu couldn’t wait to start.

“We want to improve every day,” he said. “And at the end of the season we’ll finish where we belong.

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“But what we want to do is work together as a group, on and off the field, with and without the ball, really be a team – if we take care of those little things, working together, playing properly, preparing properly for games, the results will take care of themselves.”- Hartford Courant

 

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National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

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According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

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In the community

Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

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ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

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“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

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Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

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Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

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“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

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She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

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The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

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Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

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Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

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“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

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When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

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With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

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Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

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Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

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“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

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But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

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